Oklahoma is rich in 19th century history – the era of my heart! A large chunk of that history lives in El Reno. And in the 21st century, El Reno continues to be in the news for a deadly EF-4/5 tornado that ravished part of the town in May. We did drive through where the tornado touched down and saw plenty of evidence of its existence. Very eerie.

But for the sake of this post, we will travel back to the later part of the 1800s.

El Reno was the starting point for two major land runs in Oklahoma when the Indian territories were opened up for homesteading (well done, America).

 El Reno was also the home a military fort from 1875-1908, known as Fort Reno.

 

The fort was established to help curtail Indian uprising. Even though the fort was abandoned in 1908, it was later used as a POW camp for Axis POWs from Europe during WW2. Please tell me I’m not the only one who finds it odd that the US military transported POWs all the way from Europe to Oklahoma…

The fort also had a very fascinating cemetery.  A Chinaman, and an Indian scout were not allowed to be buried near the whites, and the POWs also had their own designated burial area. There were also too many unknown and infant graves. 🙁

 

And for any of your roadies, Historic Route 66 also runs through downtown El Reno! If you’re ever along that journey, be sure to stop in Sid’s Dinner for delicious burgers! Just don’t expect to be able to eat inside!